Jazz Director / Announcer
Blaise Lantana has what it takes to be the Music Director at KJZZ... she loves music! Blaise has been a musician all her life and still performs here in the valley.
A typical day for Blaise consistis of listening to new music for 4 to 6 hours and deciding what to play on the air... then hosting the program. It takes patience, a love of jazz, and a good ear!
Blaise was born in Tucson and grew up in Philadelphia, where she studied classical piano and organ. Later at Rutgers University and Texas A & M, she majored in voice and composition. She was enchanted by the sound of Miles Davis' trumpet and Billie Holiday's voice and became a complete blues and jazz convert. She spent 20 years on the road performing and composing with blues and jazz ensembles. She studied guitar while travelling and today that's her main instrument.
"After 10 years of gypsy life," says Blaise, "I settled in Texas and was enchanted by the Mexican music I heard there. It took me back to my Cuban roots and led me to create a Latin Jazz project in Corpus Christi." Her band "Caliente" played throughout the Southwest, and was a hit at the Texas Jazz Festival in the early 1990s.
Blaise began her radio career in Texas public radio playing classical music during the afternoon and jazz at night at KEDT in Corpus Christi. She came to Phoenix in 1994 as an announcer at KBAQ and was promoted to Music Director at KJZZ in 1995 when the station started playing classic jazz. KJZZ is lucky to have an experienced musician who understands radio and relates to the Phoenix community of musicians, drawing our listeners into the local music scene.
You can hear Blaise weeknights from 8 to 11 on KJZZ playing classics like Coltrane and Miles, and the latest new releases. You'll discover the inside story of jazz and where it's headed when you listen to her show, On the weekends Blaise performs at different venues throughout the valley, including the Teeter House in Heritage Square. Blaise has a CD "With a Touch of Blues." and is working on her next release.
